Did you know that 1 in 4 women, regardless of ethnicity, religion, class or lifestyle will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime? Domestic violence is physical, sexual, psychological, or financial abuse that takes place within an intimate relationship and that forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behavior.

This limited sized group is a 12-14-week psycho/educational support group and designed for women who are affected by an abusive partner relationship that has happened in the past, are in the process of transitioning out of an abusive relationship, or are currently experiencing abuse.

The educational segment utilizes The Power to Change curriculum – a comprehensive manual developed through the collaboration of feminist activists and practitioners from five different countries. Through their own experience of working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and consulting with other specialists and survivors, this useful resource is now available in 5 languages, and is, what I have found, to be the best existing material for domestic violence survivors.

Session Overview:

Session 1: Basic rights

Session 2: Definition of abuse

Session 3: Why is it so hard to leave?

Session 4: Families and children

Session 5: Boundaries

Session 6: Coping with grief, fear and guilt

Session 7: Coping with anger

Sessions 8 and 9: Assertiveness skills and boundary setting

Session 10: Assertiveness techniques

Session 11: Dealing with requests and authority figures

Session 12: Practicing assertiveness

Session 13: Healthy relationships

Session 14: Endings and new beginnings

If you’ve recently lost a loved one, or perhaps are still deeply affected by a loved one lost long ago, I want to express my heartfelt sympathy. As one who has traveled through the wasteland of grief, I personally know the suffering entailed in that journey. I also know the healing that comes upon reaching the other side.

Loss and grief is universal to us all and an inevitable part of the human experience. There are so many emotions involved with losing a loved one, including shock, anger, and depression. If not thoroughly understood and processed in a helpful manner, unresolved emotions negatively impact one’s personal relationships, social interactions, career, and overall health.

Although loss not only pertains to death and dying, (for example, divorce, disability, or loss of job), Journey Through Grief is designed for those experiencing loss of a family member or friend. This is an eight to twelve-week group, depending on group consensus and is limited in size. Learning material will be integrated from a variety of sources.